With the canon out of the way, I thought we’d have an interesting conclusion with a relatively easy-to-obtain military watch. But it’s not just any military watch, it could be worn on base by an unknown person. Oh, no, it’s totally a watch belonging to a member of the Italian Parachute Brigade. In other words, it’s a Breitling fake watch, worn on parachute jumps on behalf of the country. I don’t know about you, but I think this sounds cool and if you agree, you’ll want to keep reading.
Breitling produced these watches in the 1980s for the Brigata Paracadutisti Folgore (or Paratroopers Brigade Folgore, which means lightning). These replica watches were designed to be worn by paratroopers, which meant they needed to be both practical and easy to read in harsh conditions. As such, this is a bold watch with a wide bezel that makes it easy to read in less than ideal conditions. Included with the watch is a handwritten card from the regiment, as well as some other documents and information from the regiment that shows its service environment, which is identifiable.
The only aspect I can see someone not buying is the quartz movement that powers this watch, but I want to remind you that we are talking about a military watch and one that is designed to withstand the rigors of jumping out of an airplane. There’s something special about a watch built for a specific purpose, and in this case, the purpose for which this watch was built demands the highest level of precision and durability. It’s a tool watch, so to speak, and one that’s clearly up to the task at hand, because it’s still here and it still looks good.